The Steelers have too many holes but not enough draft picks

Forget about trading up, they need to trade pick #32, they need to come out of this draft with players at these positions. I'm not counting on those two 7th round picks contributing anything next season.

OT
SS
WR
OLB
DL
ILB
CB

 

DL and ILB are fine. A stud can improve it but we have capable starters and backups at both levels
.
WR: we potentially need a slot. Assuming Austin can't handle it.

So we really have 4 starter needs.

LT: Can upgrade but have decent starter
CB: Need a starter either at slot or CB 1
SS: Need a starter
OLB: Need a capable backup to the starters.

We have 4 picks in the top 80. Spend it on those positions.

 

the addition of tanner muse today helped some depth at that hybrid LB/SS position. he and neal could play that role for them in different packages. it also shored up the ST's a good bit. TE, OT, C, CB, slot CB, DL, WR, OLB, QB, any of these could be added. i don't think they have a glaring need anywhere right now but depth and future starters.

 

With the recent FA acquisitions at OL and ILB these areas
Are not high priority yes I would like to upgrade LT. The Steelers need db's
And edge ,dl, wr,te depth.Starting CB has to come from this draft.And safety also Kazee is pretty small
To be playing SS on regular basis.

 

DL isn't fine they need another one, Loudermilk roster spot could be in trouble, we don't know what Leal is yet. They still need a ILB that can play in coverage, Roberts is a two down ILB, they could use a CB on the outside and in the slot.

 

Muse is most likely another Marcus Allen type of tweener, I doubt he plays on defense they needed help with special teams.

 

They know what he is capable of, since they scouted him pretty heavily in college. Looking for the outside in, it just seems like they are up to some changes on defense and it may not be big changes but subtle sets they may use because of the skill sets of some of these players. I don't think Marcus allen could hold a candle to muse skill wise. They need to create pressure different ways especially if there are injuries.

Package football is becoming quite useful. We shall see. He and Neal have a similar skill set. We haven't got much coverage from the inside guys. We haven't got much pressure from the inside guys. Muse and Neal both should be upgrades in that area in certain packages. We will have to see what they come up with in the lab. Options are good. That's my take on it anyway.

 

I think Muse is special teams help for sure, but I agree with mac. He may be that dime LB hybrid guy they’ve been looking for too. We’ll see in Latrobe I guess

 

I'm not getting my hopes up for a guy who couldn't get on the field for the Raiders, or the Seahawks.

 

pretty tough when wagner, brooks and barton are ahead of you as starters. he was a safety in his first season with them.

 

Or he's just not that good, and the Raiders drafted him too early, he was signed for special teams they lost a bunch of guys from there.

 

he was hurt his first year with the raiders and had toe surgery. he was out for a year with that. there are a lot of reasons other than he just sucks. the raiders then had two starters in place at linebacker when in year two he made the switch to LB. the seahawks had at least 3 starters ahead of him and arguably a couple of the best LB'ers in the league. yes he was brought here for ST's but i don't think he stays there alone during the season. he's a pretty versatile player. then it depends on those injuries you never see coming.

 

I think there are too many holes than picks, which is why I think just striving for OT or CB is a mistake, not saying either position should be ignored either. Take the BPA at one of those positions of need in each round and let the chips fall as they need to.

 

i don't think there are that many glaring needs.

CB, slot CB for depth, 4th WR maybe, 3rd or 4th edge.

could use a DL for depth but not really a glaring need we have wren, marshall, watt, adams, fehoko, leal, loudermilk, ogunjobi, heyward.

we have depth at SS with neal, muse, killebrew, riley, norwood and robinson, nelson.

LB is pretty full now with muse and neal able to play roles there and holcomb, roberts, crowder, robinson.

corner has some guys that could actually make some noise as depth. depends on how they show. wilcox year1, witherspoon is still here, maulet, pierre, harper in year two, duke dawson in year 4.

edge has, roche year 3, egbule in year 3. a place we could use some depth.

we actually have a few young WR's and RB's here. wr's we have bradly year 2, chisena year 3, fitzpatrick year 2, miller year 6, gunner year 5, cody white year 2 and of course austin.

RB, of course our top 2 and then mcfarland, teague and huntlly.

OT is thin at depth. clark is it basically. cole probably could in a pinch.

G, should be good. still have dotson, green, herbig, dunkle.

C, we have mccullom, green, depends on herbig as a 3rd or 4th depth piece.

if we have one or two of these depth pieces show up in camp and preseason, we could be in better shape then many think. i believe many have just as good of shot as a rookie. many have been around a little while with these expanded PS as of late, so the speed of the game and process isn't brand new to them. there may be fewer holes than many think at this point.

 

There dang Well should be a great pick at 17. Only 16 teams are picking ahead of us, and We know 2 forsure will be Qbs. That's leaves 14 other players in the whole draft taken before us. If We can't get a really great player at that pick ....We need someone else that can.

 

I say they need to hit on all of their picks through the fourth round, not all of them need to be starters right away but they need to contribute, I don't expect much from the two 7th round picks. So, that means they currently have 5 picks to fill their holes, these are their needs:

OT
DL
ILB
OLB
WR
SS
CB
Slot CB

 

Now You jinxed us....the 7th rounders will be our best picks. LoL

 

who shouldn't be on the field in big moments on the DLine?

roche was in a terrible situation in NY, so we really can't say how he will play in the system he was drafted by us for. the giants changed defenses and DC's which hurt crowder and roche in their system so they were expendable. prior to that they both had pretty good years.

yes we need to and will invest in a corner or two i believe. future more than anything though. not many if any will step in day one and take over except for maybe some slot play where we could use one.

i'm not so sure SS is a disaster. in the sense that a traditional FS and SS usage would apply maybe but we play that so little anymore. neal and muse and riley or killebrew are capable of spot duties in this capacity. this all depends on what the defense is planning as far as these sub packages.

depends on if they draft for now or the future. some of these positions have starters short term, so do we draft high for backups now? do we draft to replace starters that are in place? even troy didn't start right away. nor did heyward. nor did keisel or harrison. sutton took two years as a backup before moving into a starting role.

they have been fighting to find a backup OLB for years now. we have a ton of money or soon will, invested in that position.

edmunds was decent but i don't think he was much better than some of these others. he was available is all. much depends on how they use this position. are we going to the 3 safety package? base 3-4? 4 corners? we haven't played very much base for several years. this will determine many things in the draft and who's who as backups. that's my take on this.

 

Quality over quantity for me, 90% of the NFL has too many holes and not enough picks.

 

Needs are CB and/or slot CB to compete with and/or replace Wallace or Maulet
OT to compete with or replace
DL for depth this year, to start in the future
Edge for depth this year, and possibly replace Highsmith
ILB to compete with or replace
WR if value is too great to pass up
SS depth this year, compete for next year
TE depth if value is to great to pass up

Tomlin will get the Steelers to 9-8 no matter who is drafted. It will be up to Pickett's development to get the Steelers past 9 wins.

 

@STD would love it if this happened

 

You got that totally correct.